Powerball Second-Place Winner Purchased Ticket At San Jose 7-Eleven

SAN JOSE -- They didn't win the big, instant-tycoon, retire-to-the-Bahamas lottery prize, but somewhere lurking around San Jose is a $2 million Powerball winner.

The person purchased the lucky ticket from a 7-Eleven store at 2440 Almaden Expressway, according to California Lottery officials.

That buyer is one of two in California -- the other ticket was purchased in the Kern County town of Taft -- who correctly picked five of six numbers in Saturday's mega-million Powerball jackpot. Each will win $2,309,228.

"That's a nice little return on a $2 investment," the price of a Powerball card, California Lottery spokeswoman Donna Cordova said. The prize will be a one-time payout, and unlike the grand prize doesn't come with the option of payments over time.

Minus the 25 percent federal tax (there is no state or local tax withheld from California Lottery prizes), that fresh windfall comes to about $1.73 million. And that's enough to buy three luxury suites at the new 49ers stadium in Santa Clara, or send six children through Stanford University or buy a modest house in Los Altos.

The five winning numbers: 22, 10, 13, 14, 52. The two "second-place" winners missed the sixth Powerball number 11.

At the San Jose 7-Eleven on Sunday, clerk Juan Gonzalez said Powerball ticket sales were brisk on Saturday, the day $23.7 million in Powerball tickets were sold in California. Increased sales fattened the pot for California's winners.

Those who matched at least one number won lesser payouts.

California began selling tickets in the multi-state Powerball game April 8; like state lottery tickets, a portion benefits public education. A ticket sold in Florida hit the jackpot, worth an estimated $590.5 million. The chances of selecting all six numbers was one in 175.2 million. Including the two in California, 33 tickets won second place; the prizes varied by state.

Lottery officials advise the little winner to sign the winning ticket and within 180 days take it to a lottery office. In the Bay Area, they're located in Hayward and South San Francisco.

Neither the Almaden Expressway 7-Eleven store manager nor owner could be reached for comment. Unlike winning tickets for the California Lottery, the store that sells a second-place Powerball ticket does not get a bonus. "But they did get a lot of nice publicity," Cordova said. "They are officially branded in many people's eyes as a lucky retailer."

Contact Sharon Noguchi at 408-271-3775. Follow her at Twitter.com/NoguchiOnK12. ___

A South Carolina woman's luck stopped short after she told a few friends about her winning $500 ticket. Willie Jones, a friend of the winner, was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/south-carolina-stolen-lottery-ticket_n_1686630.html" target="_hplink">charged with stealing her ticket</a>.